Grain Belt Express Clean Line LLC, an affiliate of Clean Line Energy Partners LLC, has filed a proposed route in its application with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) for permission to site the Kansas portion of a new 750-mile DC transmission line meant to transport wind energy eastward.

The proposed route would begin near the Spearville 345 kV substation in Ford County, Kan., and traverse north and east to the Kansas/Missouri border.

According to Clean Line, the project would move wind power from western Kansas to Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and states farther east. The company says Kansas' wind resource has the potential to generate up to 950 GW, but development is limited due to a lack of transmission.

“Kansas has vast opportunities for wind energy development, and if approved, this filing will take us a step closer to $7 billion of new, renewable energy projects,” says Michael Skelly, president of Clean Line Energy.

In December, the KCC certified Grain Belt Express Clean Line LLC as a public utility in Kansas. The KCC will now consider the reasonableness of the proposed route, and the commission has scheduled a series of public hearings for landowners and the public to gather more information and provide comments on the proposed route.